Boiled eggs, ice cream sundaes get in gear for RAGBRAI

Thu July 20 2006
Posted Jul 20, 2006
5,827

ANTHON, Iowa -- The Iowa small-town experience that is RAGBRAI was best delivered to me over a cup of coffee Wednesday morning at The Little Siouxloon in Anthon. Gene Sawin told the tale. "My son Dave is in Portland, Ore., and this spring he ran into Tom Arnold (the famous Iowa actor)," Sawin said. "Arnold asked Dave where in Iowa he came from and Dave told him Anthon." The name rang a bell with Arnold, a frequent RAGBRAI rider. "Anthon. I remember riding RAGBRAI through Anthon one year," he said. Sawin apparently nodded and said, "Yes, RAGBRAI came through Anthon in 1988. I worked at a beer garden." Arnold laughed and said, "Then, yes, there's a good chance I have seen you before!" Northwest Iowans will get the chance again to serve beer, boiled eggs and information to thousands of people like Tom Arnold next week as the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) unfolds in 444 miles of hills between Sergeant Bluff and Muscatine. I visited Anthon and Ida Grove on Wednesday and watched as dozens of community-minded residents readied for an estimated 16,000 visitors Sunday. Anthon is one of three pass-through cities on the route Sunday (Bronson and Battle Creek are the other two). Ida Grove hosts an overnight stay for the first time since the summer of 1988. Here's a look at some of the numbers and notes I collected. -- 100. That's how many pies the women of the United Methodist Church of Anthon have baked. They're also making more than 700 cinnamon rolls to serve Sunday. -- 1,000. That's how many hard-boiled eggs the folks of Anthon UMC will try to sell. They sell three for $1. -- 60 minutes. That's how long the Anthon Municipal Band will play in front of the new Hamann Memorial Library. Trumpeter Art Ashley organized the band a few years ago. -- Two tons. That's how much the Anthon UMC's cross of bicycles weighs. The figure, created this week by Art Ashley, contains 15 bikes tied by clothesline to blue piping. The cross will be placed kitty-corner from the Anthon Community Center on the east end of Main Street as a way of giving RAGBRAI riders a landmark for the UMC food stand. (There are also food stands in town run by the other churches and a host of other organizations.) "We're on Main Street this year, because our members said many riders didn't get off the direct path back in 1988," said Ashley. "So, we moved our site and decided to build a cross of bikes." The food stand for this church could be its largest fund-raiser ever. "We're happy with 600 at our turkey dinner each fall," said Ashley, a retired teacher who now dabbles in home repair projects. "We're looking at 16,000 people coming through town Sunday." -- Six. That's how many miles riders will trek east out of Anthon to "Six Mile Corner" where they will turn south and head toward Battle Creek. -- Two. That's how many hours of sleep Pat Phillips plans on getting Sunday. He'll work for the Ida Grove Kiwanis at its food stand Sunday night before managing his store, Ida Grove Food Pride, until 1 a.m. Monday. Then, he'll be back at 4 a.m. to run the Kiwanis breakfast operation. -- 3,000. That's how many meals Kiwanians and Venture Scouts plan to make. -- 800. The number of signs printed for RAGBRAI's "One Royal Night" in Ida Grove. -- 24,000. How many meals were served in 1988, when RAGBRAI last spent the night in Ida Grove. -- 6. The number of bikes stolen during Ida Grove's RAGBRAI in 1988, according to an account in The Ida County Courier. -- 4. The number of stolen bikes which were recovered. -- 150 to 180. The number of gallons of ice cream Jackie Netherton and staff may serve Sunday at Ida Grove Pharmacy, home of the famed Gedunk, a sundae that consists of vanilla ice cream, chocolate topping, chocolate ice cream, marshmallow topping and nuts. -- 279. The number of private housing requests for more than 2,100 visitors who will stay in homes in Ida Grove. (All housing requests were met in the community, organizers report. One residence is hosting more than 90 riders.) -- 12,000. The number of maps printed in Ida Grove for RAGBRAI. -- At least one, maybe more. The number of audio tapes circulated by Ida Grove RAGBRAI Hospitality Chairs Ann and Jim Holst. The tapes instruct residents how to talk during the Renaissance Era, thus matching the "One Royal Night" theme of this castle-lined community. -- One. The number of times RAGBRAI Committee Co-chair Marcia Cates of Ida Grove used the term "merriment" in describing to me Wednesday how she's trying to talk like someone from the Renaissance. -- 400. The estimated number of calories in a Gedunk, according to pharmacist Russ Spotts. -- Zero. The number of rain showers that have measured more than one-tenth of an inch this summer in Ida Grove. -- One. The number of rain showers which hit Ida Grove in 1988, the last time it hosted RAGBRAI overnight. -- Thousands. The number of people in Ida County praying for some sort of RAGBRAI rain this weekend! Journal Regional Editor Tim Gallagher may be reached via e-mail at timgallagher@siouxcityjournal.com or by calling (712) 293-4229.